Never Really
by shandiss
Summary: A distraction job for Ranger goes horribly wrong and Steph must rely on herself to survive. Completely Babe 2009 Perfectly Plum challenge one shot. Rated M for angst and mature content.


_The characters belong to Janet Evanovich. Completely Babe. Rated M for mature content, adult situations and language. A one shot from a 2009 Perfectly Plum challenge. Awkward plot lines, messy phrasing and rough edges are completely my fault. Title and inspiration from "Loving Every Minute" by Mark Wills. _

**Never Really**

She was too hot. Bright light beat against her closed eyelids, making even that darkness too bright to bear. Steph tried to turn away, but a sharp pain drilled through her head and she collapsed onto a hard surface. The deeper darkness of unconsciousness threatened to take her under again, rising like a wave that she beat off with the strength of desperation.

"_Hey, honey. You come to this bar often?"_

The voice pierced the fog around her brain, and Steph flinched. She knew that voice. It belonged to Jared Tolman, a high bond skip wanted for aggravated assault and felony rape. The time on the bond was almost out, and Ranger had reluctantly asked her to help on the capture. It was a normal distraction set up: hook the FTA's interest and lure him out of the bar into the waiting arms of the Merry Men.

Only her spidey sense started screaming as soon as she walked into the bar from the autumn__evening outside . . .

"_I can't believe your boyfriend trusts you out alone like this," Jared said, leaning in way too close. His fingers walked up her bare arm and she shivered. _

Steph drew in a shaky breath. The light was making the ache in her head worse. Grimly, she steeled herself for the pain and rolled. The world spun around her as she flopped onto her stomach. Pain blossomed along her back and legs with the movement. Even though her nose was pressed deep into something prickly, she took a deep breath and inhaled the sharp, thin scent of dry grass.

Steph forced her eyes open and focused on the ground beneath her. Long grass bent over by its summer weight flowed past her field of vision, and she heard the **breeze** rattling through dry vegetation. Leaves brushed against her skin as they tumbled past with the faint patter of tiny, invisible feet.

She closed her eyes again and tried to think. She clearly remembered leaving Ranger in the parking lot and the whistles from the Merry Men when they saw her outfit. Everything since then was a jumbled mélange of images and words.

_Jared shifted his chair closer to her, his breath hot and most against her cheek. "I can show you a real good time, sweetie. A real good time."_

Gathering every bit of stubborn will she had, Steph pushed herself up so she could see over the grass around her. She saw that she was lying on a hillside near water, with a line of trees standing sentinel at the very top of the hill. As she slumped down again, Steph swallowed hard and realized her tongue was thick and clumsy with thirst. The cool blueness of the water below her was a siren song, beckoning her down towards its shores.

The amount of effort it took to point herself in the right direction made the pounding headache even worse, but Steph refused to give up. She focused her entire body on the goal and made slow progress by digging her hands into the ground and pulling herself forward.

"_You're looking a little cold," said Jared. He picked up his sweater_ _from a chair and wrapped it around her. Something pricked the skin of her arm, and Steph instinctively tried to pull away, but Jared wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, yeah. I like sass, baby. You're going to be fun."_

The grass concealed an embankment near the shore; Steph reached for the next foot of ground and clutched empty air. With shaking hands, she parted the grass and saw the sharp drop to the sand at the edge of the water. In her normal physical condition, it might have been good for a laugh when she tumbled over it. Now it was like peering over the edge of the Grand Canyon.

She rested in the cushion of the grass and let the crisp air flowing over her cool the sweat from her skin. White puffy clouds raced past in the piercing blue sky overhead. Summer's green caress had long since passed in this part of the world; only fall's many shades of brown remained to wait for winter's blanket to sleep. Steph laid her cheek against the warm earth and let her eyes drift closed.

_Things were blurry after the sweater. She remembered being carried, and a vague sense of panic that this wasn't right. Then she was tossed into a car and landed face down on a musty fabric car seat. After that there was only the hum of tires on pavement for a very long time._

A querulous chirping roused her. Opening her eyes, Steph saw a dark brown otter watching her with a bright gaze. It was poised to flash into the water at the first sign of danger, but it stared steadily at her, waiting to see what she would do.

Steph didn't breathe. As a city girl, her first instinct was to scream. But if it attacked, she didn't think she had the strength to defend herself. Jersey public education certainly didn't cover how not to be eaten by carnivorous wildlife.

The otter rose on its back feet and sniffed the air, its nose twitching delicately. It slinked forward a few feet, stopped to sniff the air and watch her, then repeated the maneuver. Slowly, it moved forward until it was only a few feet away from her.

Steph's head was starting to hurt from the effort not to move or breathe. Her heart froze as she saw her arm reach out towards the curious animal. A cool touch brushed across her fingertips, then the ground gave way underneath her and she fell over the drop. Pain lit up her back and shot straight to her head, blanking out her sight and awareness with a white hot light that faded into darkness.

_Darkness, and then the sense of the car slowing and pulling over. Jared climbed out and walked away; Steph scrabbled at the door and tumbled out, driven by the instinct to get away. She staggered into the darkness, away from the bright lights near the car, and searched for a place that she could hide. Hours flowed past her, until it seemed like she had been walking forever. Then she stumbled through some trees and lost her balance. Another sense of free fall, then nothing._

Voices brought her back this time. A child's shrill treble floated across the water, filled with laughter. "Grandpa! Look at the otter!"

A low male voice answered above the splash and drip of oars. Steph saw an ancient rowboat come into view around the grass, heading for where the otter played directly off shore from her position. She tried to move to get their attention, but her body refused to cooperate. They drifted past as she watched in despair, and she closed her eyes over the ineffectual tears.

"Why is that lady laying in the grass?"

"Holy Mary, Mother of God!" The oars rattled against the boat, but the rest of the sounds faded as the buzzing in her ears grew. Steph felt a wash of relief that at least someone knew where she was. It would take time for the boaters to get back to their landing, and then there would be time to get the call to emergency personnel. If only her strength held out that long . . .

Steph watched the shadows as they crept across the ground towards her with the sun's westward progress. A thin wail broke through the silence around her, and another one joined it until there was a chorus shrieking from the hillside above. Voices shouted back and forth, then she heard a helicopter buzz overhead. The downdraft from its blades flattened the grass and blew dust into her eyes, until she couldn't see for the tears.

The helicopter drowned out the noises on the hill. When a large body landed beside her, she flinched hard. A firefighter in full gear hastily knelt next to her and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Stay still, Miss. We've got a team coming down with a backboard." He clicked on his radio. "It's her. Land the chopper up top and we'll rig her for air transport. Alert Mercy Regional that we've got a trauma case coming in hot."

Everything happened too fast after that. More people came down the hill, most of them EMTs and firefighters. As they were lifting her onto the backboard there was a commotion higher up, and one of the EMTs swore under his breath. Seconds later a familiar grip settled around her right hand and held on like a drowning man to a lifeline.

Steph forced her eyes to focus. Ranger stood by her side, his expression grim as he clutched her hand. "Babe—Steph, stay with us. Don't you dare leave me."

She managed a faint smile, but it was enough to bring the light back into his dark eyes. Ranger with her as the EMTs went through their routine and started the IV. When it came time to carry her up the hill, he grabbed the side of the basket and made sure she wasn't jostled. Only when they loaded her onto the helicopter did he step back. His face was the last thing she saw as the door closed between them and the chopper lifted off towards the hospital.

After what seemed like an eternity of being poked, prodded and hydrated with a thousand gallons of fluids, Steph was tucked into a bed and given stern instructions by attending doctor to rest. The head nurse left the light on low, checked the tubes and machines, and followed the doctor out. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving the room to the dull chorus of humming machines.

A part of her was exhausted, but another part stayed stubbornly awake and waited. A breath of air whispered past, followed by the soft click of the door. She opened her eyes to find Ranger by her bed, his face shadowed with fatigue and worry. If he had looked worse than Joe after Scrog, this was ten times beyond that.

"Hey," she said softly, forcing the word past dry lips.

"Hey." He swallowed hard, then knelt so he could look into her eyes. "Called your family. Told them you were working an outstate job. Figured you wouldn't want this one to get to the Burg grapevine."

"God . . . no." The thought of the gossiping was enough to make her panic. Her hand flailed aimlessly, then stilled as he captured it in his. Ranger pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"I'm so sorry, Babe. He found your wire and tracker. He didn't get rid of them in time, but when we caught up to him you were already gone."

"Jail?" she asked.

Ranger's expression was grim. "ICU. Tank wasn't quick enough."

Steph willed her fingers to close around his, and was rewarded with his smile. "You got your man, Babe. You took a bad situation and got out alive. Proud of you."

A warm glow ran through that had nothing to do with the drugs, and her eyes started to grow heavy. There was a rustle of clothing, then she felt Ranger's lips pressed against her forehead. "Sleep, Babe. Rest and grow strong."

"Stay," she whispered, not opening her eyes. She kept her fingers tight around his, willing him to understand that she didn't want him to leave her.

"Always," he said, and kissed her hand again. This time Steph let him go. The soft thud of his boots on the floor brought a smile to her lips, as faint as the morning's first light. The glow inside of her strengthened to blinding midday sun when the bed dipped and Ranger slid in beside her. He drew her into his arms so her head rested on his shoulder. Steph snuggled closer to him and slipped into dreams framed by the steady beat of the heart beneath her ear.


End file.
